20 



density water acquires in mid-summer. After the oyster has 

 reached the age of one year, it can withstand the temperature, 

 and at that age may be transplanted to salt water without danger 

 of its dying. 



Freshets. — Although an adult oyster will withstand abso- 

 lutely fresh water for as much as ten days, the young will perish 

 much sooner; and although fresh water at the surface does not 

 always indicate that it is so at the bottom, yet it is not practicable 

 to select oyster lauds that receive currents straight from some 

 fresh water lake or bayou, and which are subject to freshets, 

 for in time of heavy rains, the oysters, even if they are not killed 

 are checked in their growth. Thus another point to consider in 

 securing oyster bottoms is to have the water at a fairly constant 

 density, not too high, and not subject to the influences of 

 freshets. 



Conditions of Bottoms. — One great difficulty with which 

 the oysterman of Louisiana has to contend is the muddy bottom. 

 Except where there are strong currents, more or less mud is 

 found on all bottoms. If this is soft, the oysters sink down and 

 smother. If it is soft on the top, and at a depth of a few inches 

 hardens, the oyster may not die, but have a hard time to live. 

 Often the bottom is hard enough to support the oysters, but at 

 the next storm, or after a series of high tides, a deposit may 

 settle on the beds, which will either smother the oyster or 

 check its growth. The quantity of sediment that will settle in a 

 short time may be great enough to cover an entire bed to such 

 an extent as to kill every oyster on it. 



In the spring of 1908 west of the jetties of the Calcasieu Pass, 

 the bottom was hard and well packed, so that a man could walk 

 over it and hardly leave his foot prints. A heavy storm struck 

 that place from the eastward, and in less than a day and a half 

 the part protected by the jetty had been covered by a deposit 

 fully 12 inches in depth. There are many other places in the 

 state where this is liable to happen, thus destroying all possibili- 

 ties of oysters or any other stationary form of life growing on 

 that spot. Where there are constant currents, the sediment in 

 the water is prevented from settling, and consequently the bottom ■ 

 is hard. Here the oyster will thrive, if it has been transplanted, 

 and the young will settle and grow, if the cultch is provided for 



